Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 121,495 Shares of Bio-Techne Corp $TECH

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Bio‑Techne by 0.7% in Q4, selling 121,495 shares and now holds 17,810,878 shares (about 11.43% ownership) valued at roughly $1.047 billion.
• Bio‑Techne posted a quarterly EPS of $0.46 versus $0.43 expected and revenue of $295.88 million (down 0.4% YoY), while trading at a high valuation (PE around 108).
• The company pays a $0.08 quarterly dividend (annualized $0.32, ~0.6% yield) and analysts have a consensus Moderate Buy with an average target price of $72.77.

Vanguard Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Bio-Techne Corp (NASDAQ:TECH - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,810,878 shares of the biotechnology company's stock after selling 121,495 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 11.43% of Bio-Techne worth $1,047,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc bought a new position in Bio-Techne in the 4th quarter worth $11,468,000. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 619.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 81,874 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,815,000 after purchasing an additional 70,496 shares during the period. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 32,727 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $1,925,000 after purchasing an additional 2,097 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 69,574 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $4,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,388 shares during the period. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its holdings in Bio-Techne by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 44,965 shares of the biotechnology company's stock worth $2,644,000 after purchasing an additional 11,232 shares during the period. 98.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Bio-Techne Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of TECH stock opened at $55.02 on Friday. Bio-Techne Corp has a 52-week low of $46.05 and a 52-week high of $72.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 3.08 and a current ratio of 4.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a PE ratio of 107.88, a PEG ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $59.73.

Bio-Techne (NASDAQ:TECH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The biotechnology company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.03. Bio-Techne had a return on equity of 13.94% and a net margin of 6.67%.The business had revenue of $295.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $290.20 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.42 EPS. Bio-Techne's revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Bio-Techne Corp will post 1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Bio-Techne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 13th. Bio-Techne's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.75%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on TECH shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Bio-Techne in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $65.00 target price on Bio-Techne and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.77.

About Bio-Techne

Bio-Techne Corporation NASDAQ: TECH is a global life sciences company that develops, manufactures and sells high-quality reagents, instruments and services for the research, diagnostic and bioprocessing markets. Its core product offerings include recombinant proteins, antibodies, immunoassays, nucleic acid probes and kits, single-cell analysis solutions and automated protein analysis systems. Flagship brands such as R&D Systems, Novus Biologicals, ProteinSimple and Advanced Cell Diagnostics provide researchers and clinicians with reliable tools for cell biology, immunology, proteomics and genomics applications.

Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Bio-Techne serves customers across North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region through a combination of direct sales, distributors and strategic partnerships.

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